WSOP: David Bach Wins Marathon Duel for $50,000 HORSE World Championship

Lance Bradley | July 1, 2009 at 11:03 am

David Bach outlasted John Hanson in a seven hour heads-up battle early Wednesday morning to capture his first WSOP bracelet and the Chip Reese Trophy.

The $50,000 HORSE World Championship started with 95 players but in the end it was all about two players going head-to-head for over seven hours with neither player giving up an inch until David Bach finally got John Hanson to tap out just after 10 am PT.

Bach likes to call himself the Gunslinger and early Wednesday morning he left 94 of the world’s best poker players dead in the streets by winning one of poker’s most prestigous titles.

“I just had to remind myself to keep fighting and play well,” said Bach. “I could live with losing if I played my best, but of course I wanted to win.”

He also scored a $1,276,802 cash to add to his resume, a gold bracelet and the Chip Reese Trophy - awarded annually to the winner of this event. Prior to this win Bach’s best result was a $257,425 payday from a sixth place finish at the LA Poker Classic championship event in 2007. Hanson earned $789,199 for his runner-up performance.

“Especially this tournament being the Chip Reese tournament,” said Bach. “And being, I think, the best tournament of the year. It just means the world.”

The final table included some of the game’s most respected mixed game players including Erik Seidel, Chau Giang and Huck Seed. Also at the final table were 2009 WSOP all-stars Vitaly Lunkin and Ville Wahlbeck. But the real story was the marathon heads-up battle between Bach and Hanson. The former professional bowler and the options trader from New York City went back and forth for over seven hours with Hanson fighting back from multiple 4-1 chip defecits.

The player at the final table with the most bracelets - Seidel with eight - was the first player eliminated. During a round of Seven-card Stud 8-or-better Bach made the best high hand with a set of eights and Lunkin made the best low hand with a 7x-4x-3x-2x-Ax for seven low. Seidel, who began the day seventh in chips, was out in eighth place for his fourth cash of the 2009 WSOP.

Only five minutes later another high profile player was out of contention. During a round of Hold’em Giang raised and Erik Sagstrom made it three bets from the small blind. Giang called and the flop came A Q 5 and the two players engaged in a raising war until Giang was all-in. Giang showed Q 9 but the diminutive poker pro was way behind the A Q of Sagstrom. With the T on turn Giang picked up a flush draw but the 4 on the river failed to improve his hand and he was out in seventh place.

The impressive performance of Wahlbeck, who has record six cashes at the 2009 WSOP with five coming in World Championship events, came to a close next. Playing Omaha 8-or-better the Finn raised and Bach called. The flop brought J 4 3, Bach checked and Wahlbeck bet. Bach then announced a raise and Wahlbeck called. After the K on the turn Bach bet and Wahlbeck called all-in. Wahlbeck showed 7 3 5 2 for a low draw and a straight draw and Bach held A J 4 3 for two pair. The 4 on the river filled up Bach and denied Wahlbeck a chop for the low and he was eliminated in sixth place.

When the final table began former Main Event winner Seed was in the middle of the pack with the fifth largest chip stack and that’s exactly where he ended up. Four players, including Seed who was all in for his last 195,000, saw a flop of A T 4. Hanson and Lunkin checked to Sagstrom who bet. Hanson put in a raise and Sagstrom and Lunkin both called. The turn was the Q and Lunkin bet with Hanson and Sagstrom calling. The river was the 5 and all three players checked. Hanson showed A J for top pair and the remaining players mucked sending Seed out in fifth place.

Lunkin started the day in good shape to pull off an amazing double; winner of the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em (Event 2) tournament and the $50,000 HORSE event in the same year. Lunkin moved into the chip lead and at one point had control of the table. But the win Tuesday simply wasn’t in the cards. Late in the evening Lunkin began to ran cold and found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard looking up. During a round of Stud 8-or-better Lunkin was all-in on sixth street with Sagstrom. Sagstrom turned over a set of aces while Lunkin held two pair with a low draw. Catching the J on the river did nothing for Lunkin and he was out in fourth spot.

Eric Sagstrom broke the hearts of his online fan base by busting in third spot despite holding the chip lead at various points throughout the day. After losing a large portion of his stack to Bach in a hand of Omaha 8-or-better Sagstrom was all-in against both Hanson and Bach with the board showing K 7 6. The turn brought the J and the river the K as both Hanson and Bach created a small side pot. Hanson showed pocket eights for two pair good enough to take the pot and eliminate the last standing European in play in third place.

The conclusion of the tournament had a dramatic impact on the BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year standings. Before the night began Bertrand Grospellier had the lead with 723.2 POY points. Wahlbeck sat in fourth with 643.13 and Lunkin was fifth 627.13. Wahlbeck’s sixth place finish earned him and additional 108.9 POY points to give him 743.03 but Lunkin scored 165 for his third place finish to move into first place overall with 792.13 points.

The heads-up battle saw each player hold the chip lead four times. After a particularly brutal round of Omaha 8-or-better Hanson finally decided to make a stand during the sixth hand of Razz in the rotation. Hanson eventually made a 9-8 but when Bach turned over his river card he had made a 9-7 and sent Hanson home in second place. With heads-up lasting so long Bach drew inspiration from the name on the trophy.

“I just said to myself ‘be a professional’,” said Bach. “I was looking at Chip Reese’s name on that trophy and that’s what he would do.”

$50,000 HORSE Final Table Payouts